Balenine
A carnosine-like muscle dipeptide that survives longer in human blood, and the first trials giving it to people
Balenine, also called ophidine, is a two-amino-acid peptide of beta-alanine and a methylated histidine, abundant in whale and some fish muscle. It resists the blood enzyme that destroys carnosine within minutes, and a 2023 study found it reached far higher blood levels. A placebo-controlled trial in 20 cyclists found a single dose did not improve performance. It is a food component, not a drug.
Used in human trials: 10 mg/kg, Single dose before exercise, Oral (Study: pre-exercise performance, 20 cyclists) Details ↓
Recommended Dosing
Used in human trials
No manufacturer dose exists for this use: these are amounts given in published trials, not recommendations.
What is it?
Muscle contains small dipeptides built from beta-alanine and histidine. The best known is carnosine; anserine and balenine are versions with a methyl group on different positions of histidine's ring. Balenine, also called ophidine, is the one most tied to whales: it is the main imidazole dipeptide in cetacean muscle, and the richest source used in recent studies is the muscle of a large fish, the opah.
How much of each dipeptide a muscle holds depends on the species. A 1987 comparison found balenine in nine mammals and the chicken, reaching high levels in pig muscle and only trace amounts in human and rat muscle, and later work found it is the main imidazole dipeptide in whales and dolphins. People mostly meet it in food, and a 1982 report traced it in the urine of people who had eaten whale meat.
The reason for supplement interest is an enzyme. Human blood contains serum carnosinase (CN1), which splits carnosine within a couple of minutes, so most swallowed carnosine never reaches muscle intact. Balenine is a poorer substrate: in a 2000 comparison carnosinases broke down carnosine three to four times faster, and a 2023 simulation found it fits the enzyme's pocket badly. In a 2023 study, balenine added to human plasma lasted about 35 minutes, against one to two minutes for carnosine and anserine.
The same 2023 study then gave balenine to six volunteers at 1, 4 and 10 mg/kg. Blood levels rose more than in proportion to the dose, peaking at about 28 µM after 10 mg/kg, and people whose CN1 activity was higher kept less of it. That is the first evidence that the molecule itself reaches human blood after it is taken by mouth.
The obvious next question was performance. Carnosine and anserine have been reported to help some exercise tests when taken just before, so the same group gave 20 recreational cyclists 10 mg/kg of balenine or placebo before sprints, strength tests and 4 km and 20 km time trials. Nothing improved, and blood pH, bicarbonate and lactate did not change, although glucose stayed higher during the long trial. The authors concluded balenine does not behave like carnosine in this respect despite higher blood levels.
Laboratory and animal work is broader: radical scavenging and iron binding in the test tube, protection of cell barriers against a sugar-derived toxin, faster muscle regeneration in mice fed a balenine-rich fish extract, and less nerve damage in a mouse Parkinson's model when given into the nose. None has been tested in people. A 2025 review judged the exercise evidence too limited to confirm any benefit. Balenine is not a medicine and has no drug approval.
Mechanism of Action
Balenine is a carnosine relative whose methylated histidine makes it harder for the blood enzyme carnosinase to destroy, so more of it survives in plasma.
Carnosinase resistance
Broken down more slowly by serum carnosinase (CN1), so it lasts about 35 minutes in human plasma instead of 1 to 2.
Antioxidant and iron binding
Scavenged radicals and chelated iron more strongly than carnosine in the test tube.
Muscle
Present in muscle of many species; in mice a balenine-rich extract sped repair through macrophage activity.
Buffering not shown
A single dose did not change blood pH, bicarbonate or lactate during exercise in people.
Published Research
Studies naming balenine or ophidine, read from their PubMed abstracts on October 29, 2026. The two 2023 human trials come first, then human measurement, review, animal and laboratory work. Whale-meat extract studies are left out because the extract contains much more than balenine.
Stability and blood levels in people
Added to human plasma, balenine lasted 34.9 minutes, 29 and 16 times longer than carnosine and anserine. Six volunteers then took 1, 4 and 10 mg/kg; the highest dose gave a peak of 28 µM, 4 and 18 times the lower doses. Higher CN1 enzyme activity meant shorter half-life and lower levels.
No performance gain in cyclists
Twenty active volunteers took 10 mg/kg of balenine or placebo before cycling sprints, isometric strength tests and 4 km and 20 km time trials. Peak power, torque and both time trials did not improve, acid-base markers and mental performance were unchanged, and glucose stayed higher during the 20 km trial.
Found in urine after whale meat
Ophidine was detected in the urine of two patients and two staff members who had eaten whale meat, and was gone a few weeks later, showing it came from the diet.
Present in many mammals' muscle
Balenine was identified in muscle extracts from nine mammal species, including man, and the chicken. Levels ranged from barely detectable in human and rat muscle to 14 µmol/g in adult pigs.
Exercise evidence review
A narrative review of histidine compounds found balenine less studied than anserine, with muscle-regeneration and antioxidant effects in animals, and concluded the evidence cannot confirm ergogenic effects.
Parkinson's model in mice
Mice given the toxin MPTP and then balenine as nose drops performed better on a memory test, kept more dopamine-making neurons and showed less glial inflammation than untreated MPTP mice.
Muscle regeneration in mice
In mice with toxin-damaged muscle, a diet with a balenine-enriched fish extract sped regeneration and raised regeneration genes; balenine increased macrophage phagocytosis in the dish.
Absorbed into mouse blood
One hour after mice were given purified balenine from opah, plasma balenine reached about 128 nmol/mL, while carnosine-treated mice showed none of the dipeptide.
A marker of muscle damage in a dolphin
In a captive bottlenose dolphin with fatal rhabdomyolysis, serum imidazole dipeptides, of which balenine is the main one in cetaceans, rose a day before standard muscle enzymes.
Isolated from opah; antioxidant tests
A method yielded 41 g of over 95% pure balenine from 1 kg of opah muscle; it scavenged radicals and bound iron more strongly than carnosine and anserine at 0.3 mM.
Slower breakdown by carnosinases
Human serum and rat kidney carnosinases split carnosine three to four times faster than anserine and ophidine, showing that methylation makes the dipeptide more resistant.
Poor fit in the carnosinase pocket
Molecular dynamics simulations found ophidine bound human carnosinase 1 the most weakly of the dipeptides studied, because its methylated ring disrupts the contacts the enzyme uses.
Protecting cell barriers
In human kidney tubule and umbilical vein cells exposed to methylglyoxal, balenine, like carnosine and anserine, lessened the loss of electrical resistance across the cell layer.
What cooking does to it
Heating at 120 °C for 4 hours turned balenine into an acryloyl form of methyl-histidine, also found in processed meats and dipeptide supplements; no acrylamide formed.
Dosing Data
Balenine is not a medicine and has no label. These are the amounts given in the two published human studies, both single doses.
Educational information, not medical advice. Each dose above is tagged with its source: an approved label, a published human study, animal data, or amounts reported by users. None is a recommendation for you. An unapproved compound has no established safe or effective human dose, and products sold for “research use only” are not made or tested for people. Talk to a doctor before acting on anything on this site, including before you start, stop or change any medicine or dose. Full medical disclaimer.
What a Buyer Needs to Know
What is sold, how it is mixed, stored and taken, and what is known about its safety, quality and legal status. Each part names its source. Where we have none, it says unknown.
What is sold
Unknown: we hold no label and no published test that says what forms or vial sizes Balenine is sold in. A vial's own label is a seller's claim, not a source.
Mixing a vial: a worked example
No worked example: none of the doses on this page is a fixed amount in mg or mcg injected under the skin or into a muscle (the routes given are: not stated in the abstract (supplement), oral). There is no home-mixing step to show. The reconstitution calculator does the arithmetic for any vial.
Source: the route and amount of each dose row in Dosing Data below.
Storage before and after mixing
Unknown: no label or published stability study on file says how to store Balenine, before or after mixing. The mixing guide sets out the general rules, with their sources: keep a mixed vial in the fridge, and use it promptly, as the bacteriostatic water label says of any drug dissolved in it. The 28 days often quoted is the limit for an opened multiple-dose vial from a manufacturer, an outer limit set for sterility, not a time a mixed solution has been shown to keep. Nobody has published how long Balenine stays intact once mixed.
How it is taken
As it was given in human studies: Oral (Single dose before exercise; Study: pre-exercise performance, 20 cyclists); Not stated in the abstract (supplement) (Single doses, rising; Study: blood levels, 6 volunteers).
For injection technique, sites and needle disposal, see the mixing guide.
Source: Used in human trials: the route and frequency of each row in Dosing Data below.
What to expect, and when
How long it stays in the body: a half-life of About 35 minutes in human plasma in vitro (2023). After about five half-lives almost none is left.
How long the doses were given: Study: pre-exercise performance, 20 cyclists: One session (crossover with placebo); Study: blood levels, 6 volunteers: Three study days.
When effects appear: unknown; no source on this page gives a time to effect for Balenine. Results reported in the studies are under Published Research.
Source: half-life: PMID 37081019; Used in human trials, the duration of each row in Dosing Data below.
Side effects, and when to stop or get help
From the Side Effects section: The abstracts read report no adverse events and no safety data in detail; Glucose stayed higher during and after a 20 km time trial after balenine (PMID 36623508); Balenine is a normal part of whale, fish and some meat in the diet (PMIDs 7056822, 3568619). Full list and cautions ↓
When to stop or get help: unknown; no label or trial on file sets rules for stopping Balenine. Treat a severe or unexpected reaction as a reason to stop and see a doctor.
Source: the Side Effects section below (“From the two human studies”).
Interactions
Unknown: a PubMed search for human interaction studies of Balenine (reviewed 2026-10-28) found none. Unknown is not the same as safe to combine.
Every peptide's record, with its source: the interaction matrix.
Checking what you bought
Unknown: no published independent test of Balenine products is in our lab-results database yet, so how products sold under this name measure up is not known.
To read a certificate of analysis, paste it into the COA decoder; it checks the measured mass against Balenine's expected mass, 240.3 Da, from this entry's molecular data. Trust & Verification explains what independent testing can and cannot show.
Legal status
US: Research Chemical (Not a drug: a dipeptide present in muscle and studied as a supplement). Sport: Not on the 2026 List.
Country by country ↓ · Regulatory tracker
Source: this entry's approval status and the WADA Prohibited List, as in Legal Status below.
Side Effects & Contraindications
Reported Side Effects
From the two human studies.
Contraindications & Cautions
Not a medicine, so there is no label and no formal contraindication.
Legal Status
Balenine is a food dipeptide, not a medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions
?What is balenine?
A dipeptide of beta-alanine and methylated histidine, a close relative of carnosine and anserine, found in large amounts in whale and some fish muscle. It is also called ophidine.
?Why is it more interesting than carnosine as a supplement?
The blood enzyme carnosinase destroys carnosine within minutes. Balenine resists it: in human plasma it lasted about 35 minutes, and after a 10 mg/kg dose blood levels reached about 28 µM.
?Does it improve exercise performance?
Not in the one trial so far: 20 cyclists given 10 mg/kg before exercise did no better than on placebo in sprints, strength or time trials.
?Is it safe?
It is a normal part of some meats and fish, and the two human studies reported no problems, but they gave single doses only. No long-term study exists.
?What did animal studies find?
Faster muscle repair in mice fed a balenine-rich fish extract and less nerve damage in a mouse Parkinson's model. Neither has been tested in people.
References
- [other] PubChem CID 10198648, Balenine: formula C10H16N4O3, molecular weight 240.26. Read October 28, 2026. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/10198648
- [clinical-trial] de Jager S, et al. "Acute balenine supplementation in humans as a natural carnosinase-resistant alternative to carnosine." Sci Rep, 2023;13(1):6484. PMID: 37081019.
- [clinical-trial] de Jager S, et al. "No Effect of Acute Balenine Supplementation on Maximal and Submaximal Exercise Performance in Recreational Cyclists." Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab, 2023;33(2):84-92. PMID: 36623508.
- [pubmed] Undrum T, et al. "Determination of ophidine in human urine." J Chromatogr, 1982;227(1):53-9. PMID: 7056822.
- [pubmed] Harris CI, et al. "The identification of the N tau-methyl histidine-containing dipeptide, balenine, in muscle extracts from various mammals and the chicken." Comp Biochem Physiol B, 1987;86(2):273-9. PMID: 3568619.
- [review] Jędrejko M, et al. "Anserine, Balenine, and Ergothioneine: Impact of Histidine-Containing Compounds on Exercise Performance-A Narrative Review." Nutrients, 2025;17(5). PMID: 40077698.
- [pubmed] Chukai Y, et al. "Balenine alleviates neurodegeneration and inflammation in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease." Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj, 2026;1870(7):130953. PMID: 41999927.
- [pubmed] Yang M, et al. "Balenine, Imidazole Dipeptide Promotes Skeletal Muscle Regeneration by Regulating Phagocytosis Properties of Immune Cells." Mar Drugs, 2022;20(5). PMID: 35621964.
- [pubmed] Shigemura Y, et al. "Detection of Balenine in Mouse Plasma after Administration of Opah-Derived Balenine by HPLC with PITC Pre-Column Derivatization." Foods, 2022;11(4). PMID: 35206066.
- [pubmed] Arakawa N, et al. "Serum Concentrations of Imidazole Dipeptides and Serum Amyloid A in a Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) with Rhabdomyolysis: Potential Biomarkers for Muscular Damage." Animals (Basel), 2025;15(13). PMID: 40646849.
- [pubmed] Ishihara K, et al. "Isolation of balenine from opah (Lampris megalopsis) muscle and comparison of antioxidant and iron-chelating activities with other major imidazole dipeptides." Food Chem, 2021;364:130343. PMID: 34246912.
- [pubmed] Pegova A, et al. "Hydrolysis of carnosine and related compounds by mammalian carnosinases." Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol, 2000;127(4):443-6. PMID: 11281261.
- [pubmed] Toviwek B, et al. "Binding Modes of Carnostatine, Homocarnosine, and Ophidine to Human Carnosinase 1." ACS Omega, 2023;8(45):42966-42975. PMID: 38024708.
- [pubmed] Wetzel C, et al. "Histidine containing dipeptides protect epithelial and endothelial cell barriers from methylglyoxal induced injury." Sci Rep, 2024;14(1):26640. PMID: 39496731.
- [pubmed] Hosokawa M, et al. "Identification of acryloyl-histidine-related components from heat-denatured imidazole dipeptides and heated meats." Food Chem, 2026;523:150103. PMID: 42341666.
Sources & Citations
Studies were read from their PubMed abstracts on October 29, 2026; formula and weight from PubChem, and status from Drugs@FDA and the EMA medicines list, read October 28, 2026. Grey Peptides sells nothing and links to no vendor.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is an instruction to obtain or use any compound. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own situation.